THE DARKEST TIME OF NIGHT by Jeremy Finley
When the seven-year-old grandson of U.S. Senator vanishes in the woods behind his home, the only witness is his older brother who whispers, “The lights took him,” and then never speaks again. “[An] outstanding debut… Finley’s complex portrayal of his heroic lead will carry readers through plot developments that would come across as unconvincing in the hands of a lesser writer. X-Files fans will be enthralled.” — Publishers Weekly, starred review

LIKE TO DIE by David Housewright
A seemingly simple investigation takes Rushmore McKenzie down a dark and twisted path. “This is the fifteenth in the series, and it’s just as fresh as the first. Housewright makes telling a cracking-good mystery look effortless, and that means fans are in store for another thoroughly enjoyable read.” — Booklistreadmoreremove

THE SHEPHERD’S HUT by Tim WintonTHREE starred reviews! “The latest from Winton is a mournful and fast-paced journey into the life of a young man on his own. Gorgeously written and taut with eloquent, edgy suspense, Jaxie’s journey is a portrait of young manhood amidst extreme conditions, both inward and outward.” — Publishers Weekly, starred review

NUMBER ONE CHINESE RESTAURANT by Lillian LiA July 2018 Indie Next pick! An exuberant and wise multigenerational debut novel about the complicated lives and loves of people working in everyone’s favorite Chinese restaurant. “Li vividly depicts the lives of her characters and gives the narrative a few satisfying turns, resulting in a memorable debut. ” — Publishers Weeklyreadmoreremove

NUMBER ONE CHINESE RESTAURANT by Lillian Li
An exuberant and wise multigenerational debut novel about the complicated lives and loves of people working in everyone’s favorite Chinese restaurant. “Li vividly depicts the lives of her characters and gives the narrative a few satisfying turns, resulting in a memorable debut. ” — Publishers Weekly

IF YOU SEE ME, DON’T SAY HI by Neel Patel
A bravura debut story collection in the vein of Aziz Ansari and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, about love, family, success, and the experience of being brown in America today. “A melancholic pleasure with a sense of humor.” — Kirkus Reviews, starred reviewreadmoreremove

The #5 pick is JAR OF HEARTS by Jennifer Hillier
What if you went to jail for something terrible your boyfriend did to your best friend? Then 5 years later, you’re free but your life is in ruins, and your boyfriend is back at it (killing, that is), and maybe he’s coming for you? “…this psychological thriller is unlike any other. Enthralled readers will be rooting for Geo in the end.” — Library Journal, starred review

Rounding out the list at #10 is HOW HARD CAN IT BE? by Allison PearsonTHREE starred reviews! Hilarious and poignant, the new adventures of Kate Reddy, the beleaguered heroine of Allison Pearson’s groundbreaking New York Times bestseller I DON’T KNOW HOW SHE DOES IT. “Tackling sexism, growing older, and understanding one’s needs when catering to those of so many others, Pearson writes realism with all the fun of escapism.” — Booklist, starred review

Sooooo many stars! Have you ordered these forthcoming books for your library yet? (If not, what are you waiting for?!)

BRING ME BACK by B.A. ParisAlso available in audio“[An] outstanding Hitchcockian thriller… Paris plays fair with the reader as she builds to a satisfying resolution. Fans of intelligent psychological suspense will be richly rewarded.” — Publishers Weekly, starred review

THE MIDDLEMAN by Olen SteinhauerAlso available in audio
“Steinhauer has written an unnerving and timely thriller with incredible pivots. From a perspective on activist/terrorist civilian organizations to an examination of Big Brother conspiracy plots, there’s something here for everyone to grip—with white knuckles.” — Library Journal, starred review

“Steinhauer is a master at layering gray upon gray, motive upon motive…. Another must-read from a modern master.” — Booklist, starred review

CITY OF DEVILS: The Two Men Who Ruled the Underworld of Old Shanghai by Paul French
“Drugs, gambling, vice, and banditry power China’s seaport mecca in this rollicking true crime saga. French’s two-fisted prose—‘When Boobee hops on a bar stool, lights an opium-tipped cigarette, and crosses her long legs, the sound of a dozen tensed-up male necks swinging round is like… a gunshot’—makes this deep noir history unforgettable.” — Publishers Weekly, starred reviewreadmoreremove

HOW HARD CAN IT BE? by Allison PearsonAlso available in audioTHREE starred reviews! Hilarious and poignant, the new adventures of Kate Reddy, the beleaguered heroine of Allison Pearson’s groundbreaking New York Times bestseller I DON’T KNOW HOW SHE DOES IT. “Tackling sexism, growing older, and understanding one’s needs when catering to those of so many others, Pearson writes realism with all the fun of escapism.” — Booklist, starred review

Download the e-galley from Edelweiss

WITCHMARK by C.L. PolkTwo starred reviews! A “stellar” (Publishers Weekly, starred review) fantasy debut that combines intrigue, magic, betrayal, and romance in an original world with a historical WWI tone. “Many disparate elements are expertly woven together to make this debut a crackler, with layers like a nesting doll and just as delightful to discover.” — Booklist, starred review

Download the e-galley from Edelweiss

JAR OF HEARTS by Jennifer HillierAlso available in audio
What if you went to jail for something terrible your boyfriend did to your best friend? Then 5 years later, you’re free but your life is in ruins, and your boyfriend is back at it (killing, that is), and maybe he’s coming for you? “…this psychological thriller is unlike any other. Enthralled readers will be rooting for Geo in the end.” — Library Journal, starred review

Download the e-galley from Edelweiss

KUDOS by Rachel CuskOne of Publishers Weekly’s Spring 2018 Literary Fiction picks with three starred reviews! The critically acclaimed author of OUTLINE and TRANSIT, completes her “stunning” (Publishers Weekly, starred review) trilogy with a finale that examines the relationship between pain and honor, and investigates the moral nature of success as a precept of both art and living. “Brilliantly accomplished and uncompromisingly dark.” — Kirkus Reviews, starred review

GRIST MILL ROAD by Christopher J. YatesA January 2018 Indie Next pick with THREE starred reviews! The author of BLACK CHALK, an NPR Best Book of the Year optioned for film by Ron Howard, returns with a thriller about Patrick, Matthew, and Hannah, who are bound together in a love triangle held tighter by one seemingly senseless but decidedly criminal act that has devastating results 26 years later. “Mesmerizing and impossible to put down, this novel demands full attention, full empathy, and full responsibility; in return it offers poignant insight into human fragility and resilience.” — Kirkus Reviews, starred review

JUST BETWEEN US by Rebecca Drake
Four suburban mothers and friends conspire to cover up a deadly crime in this heart-stopping novel of suspense in the tradition of Lisa Scottoline and Lisa Unger. “This tale of deceit begins with our favorite premise [and] winds its roller-coaster plot around our tendency to see exactly what we are looking for—while our little lies take on dangerous lives of their own.” — Oprah.com

STRANGERS by Ursula Archer & Arno Strobel
A shocking thriller that explores what happens when mysterious foul play causes a woman not to recognize or remember her fiancé, but forces the couple to trust each other and fight the odds. “Nuanced characters, a complex plot, and a skillfully woven alternating narrative drive the story toward a denouement that shocks….” — Publishers Weekly

DARKNESS SING ME A SONG by David Housewright
The Edgar Award-winning Holland Taylor series returns with a case of murder resulting from tragic, twisted drama in an extremely wealthy family. “The knots are many and messy, and Holland shows he has the wit and character to untangle them.” — Publishers Weeklyreadmoreremove

Talia

THE MAP THAT LEADS TO YOU by J.P. MonningerAlso available in audio
Finally, a book version of that romantic trilogy of films that Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy collaborated on… And most especially reminiscent of BEFORE SUNRISE. I’m also fondly reminded of the first boy that I ever fell in love with, his name was Lenny Grant, we were both sixteen and attending a summer writing program in Boston. It may as well have been Europe…

THE STANDARD GRAND by Jay Baron NicorvoTHE STANDARD GRAND is reminiscent of Frank Bill’s CRIMES IN SOUTHERN INDIANA in terms of its grittiness and the ragtag group of misfit anti-heroes trying to survive in the wilderness. And I’ve always loved reading novels that were written in a sort of rushed exuberance—as if the author just had to share his or her story…

KNIFE CREEK by Paul DoironAlso available in audio
Paul Doiron’s Mike Bowditch (my favorite bad-ass—does everything on his own terms—Maine game warden) is back for more! In KNIFE CREEK, Mike and his girlfriend Stacy (a bit of a rogue operator herself) are hunting wild rampaging boars that are destroying their beautiful town and surrounding environs. During the hunt, the couple discovers a dead infant in a shallow grave. Mike is a game warden but he’s got the instincts of a seasoned detective and must find out who committed such a gruesome deed. He just can’t help himself. And I love him for that. A home explosion that nearly kills him, an encounter with two very strange “sisters” wearing matching red wigs—one of whom may or may not be a long-dead co-ed (or was she kidnapped?), and a small town that’s full of suspects… Mike’s clearly on to something here, but what?

FRESH COMPLAINT by Jeffrey EugenidesAlso available in audio
I’ve always loved short story collections (see Shobha Rao’s AN UNRESTORED WOMAN, Tom Perrotta’s NINE INCHES, David Bezmozgis’ NATASHA, Helen Ellis’ AMERICAN HOUSEWIFE, Lauren Holmes’ BARBARA THE SLUT, James Franco’s PALO ALTO). The intensity of dipping into a life, briefly, and popping right out of it again… Of meeting someone at a particularly vulnerable and strangely fascinating moment in their lives… Of sharing that moment with them but never fully knowing when it began or where it ends is particularly exciting to me. And in Jeffrey Eugenides’ new short story collection FRESH COMPLAINT, meditations abound on life at every stage and at its most banally bizarre moments. Readers are thrown into a period of post-college idealism (and dysentery), mid-life pregnancies (and an ensuing tragicomedy), rebuilding after failure, sex studies in the jungle (and leaving one’s inhibitions behind), the worshiping of a musical instrument, a green card marriage and finally death. And we are treated to it all with a healthy dose of slightly off-beat characters.

THE WIFE BETWEEN US by Greer Hendricks & Sarah PekkanenAlso available in audio
There’s a marketing specialist at Macmillan whose taste in books I trust completely. I will not name names, because she is my secret “book Santa” and I refuse to share her. Since 2004, she has very occasionally sent me manuscripts to read. She has always chosen a book that I end up loving, hating deeply, or at the very least ends up inciting an incredibly visceral reaction. I won’t list the favorites she’s sent, because her identity will most certainly be revealed. And now let’s talk about her latest manuscript, THE WIFE BETWEEN US. There is no train. There is no girl. There is drinking (all good stories need alcohol, right?). There is an unreliable narrator (but those are the most intriguing, aren’t they?). There is a handsome husband (marriages are always fascinating to dissect, good or bad!). There is “another” woman (a thriller always needs a mysterious “other,” right?). And that’s all I can tell you. Read it. And let’s talk about that ending.

INDECENT by Corinne Sullivan
An insecure shy teacher’s apprentice barely out of college at an all boys boarding school is tempted by the popular boy… He’s brash, he’s arrogant, he’s the leader of the pack… But, will she do what’s right? I can’t help but think of the only younger man that I ever dated. During the summer before I went off to college I dated a rising senior. He wore Polo cologne, had long hair and we spent most of that summer in hidden corners and behind closed doors. But it’s not the same, is it? readmoreremove

The #7 pick is BENEATH THE SUGAR SKY by Seanan McGuireThe third contemporary fantasy in the Wayward Children series, following LibraryReads picks EVERY HEART A DOORWAY and DOWN AMONG THE STICKS AND BONESis a January 2018 Indie Next pick! When Rini lands with a literal splash in the pond behind Eleanor West’s Home for Wayward Children, the last thing she expects to find is that her mother, Sumi, died years before Rini was even conceived. “McGuire suggests entire universes in a few spare sentences, and the delightfully diverse cast of characters is similarly conjured. We’re told some doors open only once, but readers will beg McGuire to keep the door open to these worlds in perpetuity. Phenomenal.” — Booklist, starred review

THE WIFE BETWEEN US by Greer Hendricks & Sarah PekkanenTwo starred reviews and big movie news for this novel of suspense that explores the complexities of marriage and the dangerous truths we ignore in the name of love. “Readers who were enthralled by B.A. Paris’s BEHIND CLOSED DOORS and Gillian Flynn’s GONE GIRL will love the skewed psychology and shifting perspectives of this domestic thriller.” — Library Journal, starred review

GRIST MILL ROAD by Christopher J. YatesTHREE starred reviews! The author of BLACK CHALK, an NPR Best Book of the Year optioned for film by Ron Howard, returns with a thriller about Patrick, Matthew, and Hannah, who are bound together in a love triangle held tighter by one seemingly senseless but decidedly criminal act that has devastating results 26 years later. “Mesmerizing and impossible to put down, this novel demands full attention, full empathy, and full responsibility; in return it offers poignant insight into human fragility and resilience.” — Kirkus Reviews, starred reviewreadmoreremove